In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award.[3] However, during the 3rd ceremony held in 1930, only one of those films was cited in each winner's final award, even though each of the acting winners had two films following their names on the ballots.[4] The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film.[3] Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year.[3]

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In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year.[5] For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31.[6] For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932 to December 31, 1933.[6] Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.[6]German ShepardRin Tin Tin received the most votes for Best Actor at the first Academy Award competition in 1929.[7] However, the originators of the Academy Awards wanted it to be seen as a serious award, and felt this would be undermined by giving the award to a dog. A new ballot was held in which Rin Tin Tin was excluded.

A^ : According to longstanding Hollywood legend,[102] reported by Susan Orlean,[103]Rin Tin Tin actually received the most Best Actor votes, but the Academy (not wishing to give the first award to a dog) refactored the votes to ensure that Jannings won.[104]

B123 : Rules at the time of the first three ceremonies allowed for a performer to receive a single nomination which could honor their work in more than one film. George Arliss, Maurice Chevalier, and Ronald Colman were all nominated for two different roles in the same category. Current Academy rules forbid this from happening. No official reason was ever given as to why Arliss won the award for only one of the two films he was listed for.[105]

C12 : Fredric March received one more vote than Wallace Beery. Academy rules at that time considered such a close margin to be a tie, so both March and Beery received the award. Under current Academy rules, however, dual awards are given only for exact ties.[106]

D^ : Paul Muni's performance in Black Fury was not nominated for an Oscar. For two years only, the Academy allowed a write-in vote.[107][108] Technically, this meant that any performance was eligible for the award. The decision was made the previous year in response to the controversy surrounding Bette Davis's failure to receive a nomination for Of Human Bondage. Muni came 2nd in the vote, however, the Academy does not recognise Davis or Muni as nominees in these years.[109][110]